Meet the HomeAway team

Q&A with Brian Sharples, CEO & Founder, HomeAway Inc.

Q: What gave you the idea for HomeAway?
A: My family has stayed in holiday home rentals for years, and our satisfaction with the experience provided the motivation to start HomeAway in 2005, as although we love renting, we had previously found it difficult and time-consuming to actually find somewhere that fit our needs. The idea, therefore, was to create an easy-to-search place – a marketplace if you like – where travellers could quickly find and contact the ideal property for their holiday.

Q: What is your vision for the Company?
A: Our goal is to make HomeAway websites the number one choice for travellers worldwide, to provide the best sites, the best selection of homes and the best services for owners and travellers alike. And ultimately to making finding and booking a holiday rental as quick and easy as booking a hotel, so that many more people can discover the benefits of holidaying in this way.

Q: Where are some of the destinations you have stayed in a holiday home rental?
A: There are far too many to list! But here are a few of our favourites from the last several years: Marthas’s Vineyard, MA, Nantucket, MA, Aspen, CO, Beaver Creek, CO, Telluride, CO, Sundance, UT, Seaside, FL, Tuscany (Italy), Provence (France), Paris (France), London (England), Lake Tahoe, CA, Napa, CA, Sea Ranch,  CA, Punta Mita (Mexico), Turks and Caicos.

Q: What is your favorite thing about working for HomeAway?
A: The people who work at HomeAway are amazing and inspiring.  We’ve been successful in attracting people who are passionate about our business, and seek to always make the experience better for our customers.  There is no shortage of good ideas to make our service better, and as a result we continually challenge each other to push our limits and get better. That makes for a very dynamic culture and rewarding work life.

Q&A with Courtney Wylie, GM of HomeAway UK

Q: How long have you worked for HomeAway Holiday-Rentals?
A: I started at ‘Holiday-Rentals’ in October 2005. I came fresh from a year of travelling around the world with my partner – in fact it was my travel blog that got me noticed by Holiday-Rentals!  Prior to that I was working as UK Website Manager for Alitalia. I began my career at Holiday-Rentals as Brand Manager, a ‘replacement’ for the departing owner Marcelle, before becoming Head of Marketing and now, General Manager. I have also managed to get married and have a little boy, William, along the way!

Q: What is your best memory of ‘Holiday-Rentals.co.uk’?
A: This memory predates our ‘.co.uk’ name – it happened when we were still called Holiday-Rentals.com!  On the Friday night before I went off to get married (Easter 2006), four of my colleagues bought a bottle of champagne for me which we drank standing around our desks. I was really touched because I had only worked at Holiday-Rentals for six months but already the people seemed like family. It's definitely the people who make working here great.

Q: Where are some of the places you’ve stayed in rentals?
A: I’ve always loved staying in holiday homes.  I think it dates back to my childhood when I spent every summer at the family cottage north of Toronto in Canada where I am from.  The extra space that you get in a holiday home is brilliant and so are the savings compared to a hotel – but for me it is the individuality that is the best feature.  Even before I worked here I used HomeAway Holiday-Rentals to find homes and I have stayed in an impressive number of properties listed on the site. Now, having William who is 18 months old, I appreciate the extra bedrooms even more!  As much as I love him, having him wake me from his travel cot next to my hotel room bed in the middle of the night to say ‘Mummy, hiya’ was not so funny after the 11th time. Some recent favourite destinations where I have stayed in rentals include Le Bec Hellouin in Normandy, Puerto Pollensa in Mallorca and finally Kotor in Montenegro, which is within easy reach of some fantastic, kid-friendly beaches.

Q&A with Petra Friedmann, MD of HomeAway Europe

Q: What is your favourite memory from a rentals holiday?
A: This summer we rented a white Spanish-style villa in Mallorca, situated high on the cliffs above the bright blue Mediterranean Sea. It was surrounded by a beautiful garden, had stunning views from the pool, bags of space and the owner really took care of us. We were just a short walk from the lovely beach of “Cala Pi” and it was a good job we didn’t stay any longer as there was also a nice house for sale nearby!

Q: Where are some of the places you have stayed in rentals?
A: I have stayed in many beautiful holiday home rentals all over the world, including Greece, the USA, France, Spain, Denmark and Germany. I also have my own holiday home in Cyprus, which my husband and I discovered together a long time ago now. One year while on holiday, we stumbled across this beautiful old village high up in the mountains and ended up buying an old ruin there which became our very own hideaway for family and friends.

Q: What is the most important feature you look for in a holiday home?
A: The most important thing for me by far is the view; to provide a holiday for my eyes!

Q&A with Tim Boughton, Chief Technical Officer, HomeAway Europe

Q: What is your favourite thing about working for HomeAway Holiday-Rentals?

A: I’ve always thought it wonderful to be a part of a business that results in lots of happy people going on great value holidays – and similarly keeping happy owners running their successful rental businesses with our help. It’s a fun industry. The other thing I really enjoy is the people I am lucky enough to work with – we try to inspire each other to keep improving and to keep listening to our customers.

Q: How has the site evolved since you first joined in 2003?
A: Since I work on the technology behind the scenes, I’m always involved in trying to bring improvements to the site and we’ve come a very long way. When I first joined way back there was no provision for getting your listing live in 9 languages on 10 different sites around the world and the process of getting a listing onto the site involved sending in your physical photos and lots of paper processes at our end! Now, thankfully it’s all online and customers get a much speedier, simpler service. We’ve also more recently added reviews, maps, better search and reservations.

Q: Where was the best holiday home you have ever stayed in, and why?
A: Back in 1999 I used holiday-rentals.com (as it was then and without knowing of my future career here) to book a spectacular farmhouse in the South of France where 14 of my friends and I enjoyed a fantastic two week break – just kicking back and enjoying the summer and the French red wine. The best bit was enjoying the property like it was “our own home” and finding the cupboards already stocked with basics and some bikes ready to use in the garage!